The thermosetting laminate mostly consists of a number of base sheets with a decor sheet placed closest to the surface. The decor sheet can be provided with a desired decor or pattern. The most frequent patterns usually represent the image of different kinds of wood, or minerals such as marble or granite. The surface of the laminate can be provided with a structure during the laminating procedure which will make the decor more realistic. Press plates with structure or structure foils are frequently used when manufacturing such a laminate. A negative reproduction of the structure in the press plate or the press foil will be imprinted into the laminate during the laminating procedure.
The structure suitably represents features characteristic for the pattern the decor represents in the laminate. The structure can be made coarse to simulate for example roughly planed stone, or smooth with randomly placed pits and micro cracks to simulate polished marble. A wood surface is simulated by providing the surface with randomly placed thin oblong indentations which imitate pores. There are however some difficulties to achieve a match between the decor and the structure. This is mainly due to the fact the substrate holding the decor is subject to a number of treatments which will inevitably change its format. The substrate carrying the surface structure will not be subject to the same format change as the decor substrate. It will hereby be virtually impossible to achieve a desired alignment between printed decor and surface structure over the whole surface of the board produced.